A lasting impression

Sunday

Jan 20, 2013 at 12:01 AM

STOCKTON - Eddie Macon - a pioneer in college and pro football - has returned to his hometown with his high school sweetheart more than six decades after leaving a lasting imprint in the city's sports lore.

Jagdip Dhillon

STOCKTON - Eddie Macon - a pioneer in college and pro football - has returned to his hometown with his high school sweetheart more than six decades after leaving a lasting imprint in the city's sports lore.

The 85-year-old Stockton native resides at the Commons, an assisted living community for seniors, to be close to his wife, Jessie, who has been at the facility's assisted memory loss unit since October. The Macons lived in Daly City for 40 years prior to this fall, both are graduates of Edison (Stockton) High and have been together ever since through a long and fulfilling life.

"When I met him, he was already a star in high school and we fell in love," Jessie Macon said. "Who knew we'd even be alive 67 years later, but the Lord meant for us to stay together. My love for him is still there."

Eddie Macon was a track standout at Edison before he was drafted into the Army in 1945 in the midst of World War II. Macon was stationed in Yokohama, Japan, for seven months in the aftermath of the war.

He returned to the United States and was recruited to run track at Stockton (now Delta) College by Boyd Thompson, before he transferred to the College (now University) of the Pacific in 1949.

Pacific football coach Larry Siemering convinced Macon to play for him, thus becoming the first black player in Tigers' history. Macon had great success as a kick returner, running back and defensive back during Pacific's football heyday.

The Tigers went 24-8-1 during Macon's tenure from 1949-51. The 1949 squad featured standout quarterback Eddie LeBaron and went 11-0, finishing with a No. 10 national ranking but no bowl invitation. Macon scored 34 touchdowns in three seasons at Pacific, including punt returns of 100 and 88 yards.

"He was a great football player who was a good guy and a hard worker," said LeBaron, who was Macon's teammate at Pacific and later in the Canadian Football League. "We were known as a fast team and he was one of the fastest, and he could break a play at any time."

Macon said his memory of individual plays and games is fuzzy, but he said Siemering and his teammates made him feel part of the team, despite him being the only non-white in the program. LeBaron, who was an All-American quarterback at Pacific and later played 11 seasons in the NFL, said while everyone on the team was aware of Macon breaking the color line at Pacific, "None of us gave it a whole lot of thought."

In contrast, Macon experienced demeaning racism during some of the team's road trips. He sometimes had to stay in hotels and eat at restaurants apart from the team and said the treatment was particularly bad in the racially divided South during the Jim Crow era. In 1950, the Tigers played at the University of Texas-El Paso and Macon was the first black player to compete at the Sun Bowl. In 1951, Macon wasn't allowed to play in a game against LSU in Baton Rouge and spent the night at a black church. There and at other stops, he was subjected to segregation and racial slurs hurled by opposing fans and occasionally from opposing players. The incidents were insulting and frustrating, but Macon kept his cool. He speaks bluntly now about how he and other black athletes were treated prior to the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s.

"You understood the program," Macon said. "The color line was there and everything was cut and dry, and there was no real issue made of it."

Macon said while Stockton was more diverse and less discriminatory than the South in those days, he experienced racism as a child. He vividly remembers blacks being banned from the swimming pool at the local YMCA, while children of other races were allowed to use it. Macon said the professionalism of Jackie Robinson, who broke the color line in Major League Baseball in 1947 with the Brooklyn Dodgers, served as his inspiration at Pacific and when he was selected by the Chicago Bears with the 20th overall pick in the 1952 NFL Draft.

George "Papa Bear" Halas, who owned the Bears from 1920-83 and coached them with a few breaks through 1967, drafted Macon to break the color barrier for his team. Halas told Macon, "I want you to be my Jackie Robinson." Macon remembers being taunted on and off the field, especially when the Bears played or scrimmaged teams in the South. Macon understood dealing with racism was part of his job description.

"It was my living and to make your living you had to learn to adjust to it," Macon said. "There was frustration, but I tried to hold it in."

Macon played two seasons for the Bears, totaling 413 yards on 50 carries and 14 receptions. He averaged 30.5 yards on 22 kick returns, including an 89-yard touchdown return. Macon left the Bears in 1954 and joined Siemering and LeBaron with the Calgary Stampeders of the CFL.

Halas was not pleased to lose a second-round draft pick so suddenly, and Macon believes the legendary coach and owner blacklisted him from the NFL. The franchise still has not formally honored Macon for being its first black player. Macon said he believes it might be because the Halas family still owns the team.

The closest Macon ever came to being recognized by the team was when recently fired coach Lovie Smith, the first black head coach in Bears' history, introduced Macon to his players at the team hotel prior to a game against the Raiders in November 2011 in Oakland.

"Lovie Smith got all of his players together and said you're here because of him, pointing to me," said an emotional Macon. "It meant a lot to me. Every honor that has been given to Eddie Macon, I've earned."

Macon is a member of the Stockton Athletic Hall of Fame and the Pacific Athletic Hall of Fame. In 2008, the university retired his No. 41 jersey.

The Pacific reunion didn't work out well in Calgary, as Siemering was fired after one season, which left Macon out of pro football for two years. Macon came back to Stockton and worked as a longshoreman before returning to the CFL with the Hamilton TigerCats from 1957-59.

Macon then returned to Stockton to resume his life as a longshoreman but was asked to join the expansion Oakland Raiders in the startup American Football League in 1960. Macon commuted to Oakland from Stockton throughout the season. He played defensive back for the Raiders and was second in the AFL with nine interceptions that season, earning All-Pro honors. But at age 32, Macon's body told him it was time to retire, and he was satisfied with his career.

Jessie Macon and their five children were glad when Eddie settled down in Daly City after football, working as a longshoreman in San Francisco and then Oakland for 40 years. Eddie Macon said he suffers from arthritis, but feels spry for someone who will turn 86 in March. One of his daughters, Marilyn, also resides in Stockton, while her sisters, Candice and Edna, live in Southern California. Macon's son, Eddie Jr., passed away in 2005.

The Macons are enjoying their time at the Commons, which Eddie refers to as his "Waldorf Astoria." Macon said he's still an avid sports fan and loves watching football on the weekends and occasionally sees a player that reminds him of himself.

"There's a lot of people that haven't seen or lived that life," Macon said. "I had the dream and lived the dream."